The minutes of a specialist HSE committee meeting show the Executive was worried that the manner in which the Owenacurra Centre is being closed may be in brech of the 'UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities'.
The concerns were raised at a February meeting of the HSE's Safety and Quality Committee to discuss a letter received from a resident of the long-term residential care facility on the grounds of Midleton Community Hospital.
The HSE originally announced that the Owenacurra Long-Term Mental Health Residential Care Centre was to close in June 2021 because it would be too expensive to renovate.
Since then, the closure has been subject to strong opposition from locals and families of the centre's residents.
The centre was home to 20 residents, but now only 6 remain.
At an online meeting of the HSE Safety and Quality Committee on the 8th February, concerns were raised that some Owenacurra residents had been transferred to St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire and to St Catherine’s Ward in St Finbarr’s Hospital.
Both of these centres had lower Mental Health Commission inspection compliance ratings than Owenacurra.
Unnamed committee members raised concerns that both St Stephen's and St Catherine’s are campus based, congregated settings which are isolated away from the general
community.
They said this goes against the UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as against the HSE and the government's own policies.
The then Chief Officer of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, Michael Fitzgerald told the Committee that work is underway to "address compliance and cultural issues" at St Stephen’s Hospital, highlighted by Mental Health Commission reports.
The minutes of the meeting also show that some committee members were dissatisfied that the residents had been moved from the Midleton area, against their wishes.
However, others felt the transition process was considered, measured and made in good faith.
